all intimate with her.

"The matter of liking her or not liking her," he said, "ought not to
enter into the question at all. You are both of you out for a good time
and that's all; you have a jolly flirtation with her for an hour or two,
and you never see her again. That's the way it ought to be! This idea of
getting intimate with that sort of a piece, and trying to get her to
care for you, is all wrong."

"Oh," said Vandover deprecatingly, "you take all the pleasure out of it;
where does your good time come in if you don't at least pretend that you
like the girl and try to make her like you?"

"But don't you see," answered Haight, "what a dreadful thing it would be
if a girl like that came to care for you seriously? It isn't the same as
if it were a girl of your own class."

"Ah, Dolly, you've got a bean," muttered Ellis, sipping his whisky.

Meanwhile, the Imperial had been filling up; at about eleven the
theatres were over, and now the barroom was full of men. They came in by
twos and threes and sometimes even by noisy parties of a half dozen or
more. The white swing doors of the main entrance flapped back and forth
continually, letting out into the street puffs of tepid air tainted with
the smell of alcohol. The men entered and ordered their drinks, and
leaning their elbows upon the bar continued the conversation they had
begun outside. Afterward they passed over to the lunch counter and
helped themselves to a plate of stewed tripe or potato salad, eating it
in a secluded corner, leaning over so as not to stain their coats. There
was a continual clinking of glasses and popping of corks, and at every
instant the cash-register clucked and rang its bell.

Between the barroom and the other part of the house was a door hung with
blue plush curtains, looped back; the waiters constantly passed back and
forth through this, carrying plates of oysters, smoking rarebits, tiny
glasses of liqueurs, and goblets of cigars.

All the private rooms opening from either passage were full; the men
came in, walking slowly, looking for their friends; but more often, the
women and girls passed up and down with a chatter of conversation, a
rattle of stiff skirts and petticoats, and a heavy whiff of musk. There
was a continual going and coming, a monotonous shuffle of feet and hum
of talk. A heavy odorous warmth in which were mingled the smells of
sweetened whisky, tobacco, the fumes of cooking, and the scent of
perfume, exhaled into